Let’s start with the latest news first. While Johnny Depp isn’t “officially” confirmed for the role of Doctor Strange, sources say that Marvel is definitely courting Depp and having meetings regarding the role. It seems the only issue at this point for him is scheduling conflicts.
A well-connected source informed me tonight that Johnny Depp has taken a meeting with Marvel to discuss taking on the role of Dr. Strange.
The 50-year-old actor is a comic book fan, and is said to be very interested in jumping onto the Marvel machine. Johnny Depp also happens to have a very fruitful relationship with Marvel’s owner, Disney.
Johnny Depp used to be a favorite of mine before the Pirates of the Carribean trilogy. Since then he has had a number of films that have flopped and seems to have been typecast for his Jack Sparrow persona which is a cross between a borderline drunk and rambling idiot. Given that Disney owns Marvel, I don’t even want to take the chance of them pushing that persona on Doctor Strange, I want some originality. I hope this casting doesn’t work out, Johnny Depp isn’t ready for Marvel until he distances himself from these typecast roles.
The next Marvel casting update is regarding Ant-Man. Previously we reported that Paul Rudd was Ant-Man which turns out to be half true. The media had assumed that Paul Rudd would play Hank Pym who is the original Ant-Man, but it turns out that he will be playing Scott Lang who is the second Ant-Man based off the comics. Hank Pym is now confirmed to be played by Michael Douglas and we’re uncertain whether or not he will have any action as Ant-Man. My guess is that Douglas will create the suit as Hank Pym and Rudd will don the suit as Scott Lang. It’s an interesting concept for the origin story, but my guess is that they’re trying to appease fans of both characters that wore the suit, much like adding a nod to Donald Blake (Thor’s original alter ego) in the first Thor film.
